95 5.7 TBI Cam

I'm looking into camming my 350 and I don't know if it's a hydraulic roller or flat tappet type cam. I want the comp cams ***** Thumpr. It's a hydraulic roller so if my motor is flat tappet, the conversion kit from comp cams is an extra 150ish bucks. My truck is a 95 Z71 so obviously it's the 5.7 TBI as earlier stated. Is that motor hydraulic roller cammed or flat tappet?

its a flat tappet, and if your thinking swapping out a cam for an agressive cam and lifters is gonna be nothing but wet panties and burnouts ...... well... your in for a treat.

i wanted to start off by saying you clearly know nothing about the engine your working on but ill play nice,

consider a factory tbi cam, low lift, around 220/230 duration at .050 and an lsa around 112-114 is what any cam that will work decently needs to be at. thumpr isnt even a good cam choice for a carb, they sound ok, they idle for ****, have ****** power and torque curves, and my utmost favorite is produce barely any vacuum so your just left with a screaming death trap that doesnt run right and wont stop your truck worth a damn, as well as adding the fact that your cylinder heads wont take that cam, your intake will not breathe what that cam desires and your 95 trans will be toast without further modifcation as well. also forgot to add that im pretty sure your nowhere near the 9.5:1 CR the thumpr is gonna require

as far as it being roller or flat, take it apart and find out. TBI started in 87. theres reports of roller motors all the way back then and not the newer ones. its a crapshoot in the wind.

your "build" needs alot more thought. Or alot more steady studying on your part as well. then once your mechanicals are done when you decide to run a cam that large you need to start looking into tuning otherwise your truck will still do nothing even with the right parts.

TylerZ281500 said:

consider a factory tbi cam, low lift, around 220/230 duration at .050 and an lsa around 112-114 is what any cam that will work decently needs to be at.

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while i agree with some of your sentiments, 220/230 @ .050 is a lot of duration for a street driven 4x4. heavy pickups need a nice fat torque curve that starts early, not something that needs a 2800rpm stall converter to get it moving properly.

OP, you need to spend a little more time doing some research. all the cam you have picked will do is give you a nasty idle. there are much better cam profiles out there that will give you the sound your looking for and a boost in power. then you have to consider all the other peripherals; intake, exhaust, chip/tune, springs, etc.

Some people think if Comp makes it, it has to be good. Comp actually made the dumpr errrr "thumpr" line of cams as sales/revenue generating pieces marketed to people who like to build engines for SOUND, not PERFORMANCE. They wouldn't have done that, mass produced them, and paid for the marketing if a market segment hadn't been identified to justify it. This has been going on in the aftermarket performance parts supply business for decades.

I don't build engines for sound. I build a sound engine, and let it idle how it wants to. Then, I nail the throttle and leave the POS with the choppy idle in the DUST. And there is a cam for a vortec 350 from a BOAT in my Suburban.

Ok, clearly you all assumed that I'm only doing a cam. Not true. I simply I said I was looking into cams, not hey I wanna cam my truck so I can sound cool and do nothing else to it. I will admit, the main reason I like the ***** Thumpr cam is because of the idle sound. BUT that's not to say I won't do anything else. I have a list of upgrades I plan to do to my engine that will compliment a cam like that. My post was simply asking what type. I didn't need all of the opinions and bs.

TylerZ281500 said:

as far as it being roller or flat, take it apart and find out. TBI started in 87. theres reports of roller motors all the way back then and not the newer ones. its a crapshoot in the wind.

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THIS, is all I wanted because that's what I had heard from some other people I talked to but I thought I could confirm it on a supposedly a friendly forum for people who share the love for the GMT400s. THATS IT. Opinions are just like assholes right? Everyone's got at least one

No, your 95 tbi engine is not a roller. It should have the bosses in the intake valley and the holes for the cam retaining plate but they may not be threaded. I have seen a factory never touched 94 5.7 that didn't have the bosses in the intake valley so the only option was to do a retro roller cam kit.

If that's all you wanted to know, maybe you should have left your bad idea out, and just asked if TBI blocks are roller ready. Call sound advice BS and liken the helpful individuals who posted to assholes.




You can't fix stupid. It's so cliche, I know.

LML Duramax 95 Z71 said:

I didn't need all of the opinions and bs.

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You do realize this is an internet message board, don't you?

Seriously, it's hard to avoid commenting on posts like yours. Many people want to throw a lumpy cam in a truck and call it a day. It is a recipe for disaster to do so, and people here were just trying to save you from a headache. If you have this covered, then "rock on".

provide all the details when asking an open ended question, or prepare for people to make assumptions.

LML Duramax 95 Z71 said:

I simply I said I was looking into cams, not hey I wanna cam my truck so I can sound cool and do nothing else to it. I will admit, the main reason I like the ***** Thumpr cam is because of the idle sound. BUT that's not to say I won't do anything else. I have a list of upgrades I plan to do to my engine that will compliment a cam like that. My post was simply asking what type. I didn't need all of the opinions and bs.

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the main reason you like that cam is sound...really? calling everyone out for doing exactly what they said you are doing?

no matter what other peripherals you add to this equation, the thumpr line is still a bad choice for a 4x4. this is not opinion, rather a fact. in fact, if you called comp, they would probably tell you the same thing(if they are being truthful in their reply). it's a great cam for a fiberglass street rod that has a 260hp crate 350 in it, and the guy wants it to sound "tough."

don't ask for help and then turn around and bite at the helpful sound advice you are getting.